Burlington Rail Merger Cuts 1,000 Jobs So Far

January 16, 1996

Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corp. said it has eliminated about 1,000 salaried positions, including 138 in the Chicago area, and plans to eliminate 1,600 hourly administrative jobs over the next several years.

About 50 of those jobs will be from the Chicago area.

The cuts are slightly more than the 2,500 jobs the companies expected to disappear when Ft. Worth-based Burlington Northern Inc. and Santa Fe Pacific Corp. of Schaumburg announced their merger in 1994.

The transaction was completed last September. The company now has about 44,500 employees.

The railroad company said Monday it expects to charge $585 million against fourth-quarter earnings to eliminate the jobs and shed about 4,000 miles of branch lines and unneeded facilities.